The managers of Madonna’s charity in Malawi have been ousted after they squandered $3.8m (£2.4m) on a school that will never be built, it has been reported.

The damning audit came as Raising Malawi confirmed it has scrapped plans for a $15m elite academy for girls.

The charity’s executive director, Philippe van den Bossche, the partner of Madonna’s former trainer, left in October after criticism of his management style and spending at the school, according to the New York Times .

“These included what auditors described as outlandish expenditures on salaries, cars, office space and a golf course membership, free housing and a car and driver for the school’s director,” the paper said.

In a shakeup at the charity, the board of directors has been removed and replaced by a caretaker board that includes the 52-year-old singer and her manager, it added.

The abandonment of the Raising Malawi Academy for Girls – backed by prominent Hollywood figures and Madonna’s associates in Kabbalah – was announced in January. This caught the Malawian government by surprise and caused anger among villagers who had surrendered their homes to make way for a 117-acre construction site near the capital, Lilongwe.

When the project began to turn sour, Madonna, who has reportedly invested $11m, turned to the Global Philanthropy Group for help. Its report on Raising Malawi’s work, seen by the New York Times, was critical of the way Bossche oversaw both the building plans and the curriculum.

“Philippe’s level of mismanagement and lack of oversight was extreme in both aspects of the project and the lack of success of the players on the ground is in large part a result of his inability to effectively manage project plans, people and finances,” it was quoted as saying.

The audit also gave a withering verdict on Anjimile Oponyo, who was supposed to head the school. “Her charisma masks a lack of substantive knowledge of the practical application of educational development, and her weak management skills are a major contributor to the current financial and programmatic chaos.”

Trevor Neilson, a founder of the Global Philanthropy Group, said $3.8m had been spent on the unbuilt school, much of it on architects, design, salaries and two cars for employees who had not yet been appointed.

“Despite $3.8m having been spent by the previous management team, the project has not broken ground, there was no title to the land and there was, overall, a startling lack of accountability on the part of the management team in Malawi and the management team in the United States,” he was quoted as saying. “We have yet to determine exactly what happened to all of that $3.8m. We have not accounted for all the funds that were used.”

Construction of the academy was also delayed over a dispute between Raising Malawi and villagers who claimed they were not adequately compensated for land. The building had been due for completion in December this year.

Michael Berg, a co-director of the Kabbalah Centre and co-founder of Raising Malawi, accepted defeat this week. He wrote to the centre’s contributors: “A thoughtful decision has been made to discontinue plans for the Raising Malawi Academy for Girls, as it was originally conceived.”

But Madonna, who has adopted a boy and a girl from Malawi, insisted the charity will continue to work in the impoverished African nation. “There’s a real education crisis in Malawi,” she said. “Sixty-seven per cent of girls don’t go to secondary school, and this is simply unacceptable. Our team is going to work hard to address this in every way we can.”

Raising Malawi has made progress despite the setbacks, she added. “While I’m proud of these accomplishments, I’m frustrated that our education work has not moved forward in a faster way.”

In an interview last month Neilson, now leading the charity’s efforts, told the Associated Press: “Basically, what we’d be doing is expanding the ability for a group of nonprofits to provide education to more kids.

“Madonna increasingly began to have concerns about the effectiveness of the existing strategy and management team, and as a result has made sweeping changes in order to better serve more children in Malawi.”

The Kabbalah Centre, once a part of the project, is no longer involved, Neilson added.

Just think about that. In a country where a dollar can probably feed a family for 3 days, they had spent $3.8 million and NOTHING HAD BEEN BUILT YET?!

Mar 25, 2011 at 10:07 am · @Reply ·

C. D T

This is fairly typical for many chartities that spend most of their money on salaries and perks for the staff and not much for the work they do. I’ve seen orphanages that are like the old Oliver Twist one. where the staff lunch costs more than the days meals for the kids.

Mar 25, 2011 at 10:22 am · @Reply ·

Sean

Give me a f-ing break. I really hate the bastard at Queerty that hates on Madonna ever chance he gets. She has been an unbelievable advocate for the gay comminity since the beginning of her career and provided the soundtrack for multiple generations! I’m starting to think her estranged gay brother is the one that writes all these negative articles about her.

Mar 25, 2011 at 11:46 pm · @Reply ·

Ellen

@Sean, what does her being an advocate for gays have ANYTHING to do with such gross misuse of funds in Malawi? There is absolutely no excuse for this.

@Cam, $1 cannot feed a family for 3 days in Malawi. Food is extremely expensive in Malawi.

That amount of money, however, could have gone a very long way in truly supporting teen girls in Malawi if it was managed ethically. Perhaps Madonna should admit that she doesn’t have a friggin’ clue about education development and just hand the money over to someone who does, rather than putting someone equally clueless in charge. So many teen girls are the heads of their households because their parents have died of HIV, malaria, or some preventable disease. It’s really sad to see such gross misconduct go on when there are such real needs!!!

btw, I was in Malawi when Madonna bought the 2nd baby… and for anyone who ever doubted that she bought that baby, this corruption is great evidence. I don’t necessarily have a problem with her parenting kids from Malawi, I just think people should be honest about what it was. The law was broken in 2 ways for her to adopt Mercy… there is absolutely no way that I could have brought a baby home from Malawi, even though there were several that I fell in love with… because I didn’t have the money to bribe judges or pretend to invest in development!

Mar 26, 2011 at 12:43 pm · @Reply ·

Jeffree

When stars start delving into philanthropy they get press, but good intentions often go nowhere. Oprah, remember, had problems with her own leadership academy for girls.

It’s sad that the Malawi school hasn’t broken ground: C’mon, classes can be taught in tents: books matter more than buildings, instruction more than construction.